the things we do for love

So…what do you do? You’re not the first to ask that rhetorical question and you won’t be the last. To oversimplify, branding is a function of marketing and advertising. A brand (noun) is how people perceive your organization. Branding (verb) is the process of manufacturing the perception you want people to have of you.

Okay, so what do you do? Basically, what every ad agency does.

strategy

writing

design

video

social

paid media

Research

Measurement and Reporting

Analytics and Insights

What separates us from other shops is our perspective and willingness/ability to take appropriate, calculated risks. Our thinking and philosophies drive how we approach the work. Here’s what that looks like for all of our services.

At H2M Brand Haus, services aren't checkboxes—they're building blocks—and at times, simply the price of entry. From strategy and design to all forms of paid media, including social, digital, and traditional tactics. We also have a strong reputation for our distinctive video work and market research. Our team helps brands across ND, SD, MN, MT, IA, NE, and WI immortalize their brand and boost awareness for what matters most—increasing sales.

strategy: WEIRD WORKS. WILLY-NILLY WASTES.

It’s expensive to blend in. That said, advertising shouldn’t be a shouting contest. Grab attention and then do something meaningful once you have it. Know who your audiences aren’t. Expand your tribe.

It’s not about buzzwords. It's about knowing who you are, what you want, and how to get there without wasting money on things that sound good in meetings but do nothing in the real world.

At H2M Brand Haus, strategy means digging into your business, your audience, and your market to build a foundation that actually holds up. Whether you're launching something new, repositioning an existing brand, or just trying to make sense of your marketing mess, we start here.

Strategy gets thrown around a lot. To us, strategy means intent. The best way to take risks is to look before you leap but still jump. No ad, post, or bit of content will ruin your brand if it has thought behind it combined with basic common sense.

What We Do:

Brand Strategy & Positioning – Who are you? What do you stand for? Why should anyone care? We answer these questions before spending a dime on creative.
Marketing Strategy – How do we reach your audience? What channels make sense? What's the right mix of paid, earned, and owned media? Strategy first, tactics second.
Messaging & Positioning – The words matter. We craft messaging that resonates with your audience and differentiates you from the competition. No corporate speak, no fluff.
Competitive Analysis – We look at what your competitors are doing so you don't have to copy them. (Seriously, don't copy them.)
Go-to-Market Planning – Launching something new? We map out the roadmap so your launch doesn't land with a thud.

Our Approach:

We don't believe in cookie-cutter strategies. Every business is different, and your strategy should reflect that. We start with discovery—listening, researching, asking uncomfortable questions—and then we build a plan that's uniquely yours.

Strategy sessions aren't about us talking at you for two hours. They're collaborative, sometimes messy, and always focused on getting to the truth of what will actually work.

Why It Matters:

Because tactics without strategy is just noise. You can run ads, post on social, redesign your website—but if you don't know why you're doing it or who you're talking to, you're just burning money and hoping for the best.

Good strategy gives you clarity, direction, and a filter for every decision you make. It's the difference between "let's try this" and "here's why this will work."

WRITING: THANK YOU FOR PROVING PEOPLE STILL READ.

Words matter. The right ones can stop someone mid-scroll, change a mind, or make a sale. The wrong ones? Well, those just take up space.

At H2M Brand Haus, we write copy that does something—whether that's selling, informing, entertaining, or all three. From ad campaigns to website content, social posts to brand messaging, we craft words that sound like you, connect with your audience, and actually get read.

What We Do:

Ad Copy – Headlines, body copy, taglines—the stuff that stops thumbs and opens wallets. We write for TV, radio, print, digital, social, and anywhere else words appear.
Website Copy – Your website is often the first impression. We make sure it's a good one with clear, compelling, on-brand copy that guides visitors and converts them.
Brand Voice Development – How should your brand sound? Friendly? Authoritative? A little sarcastic? We define your voice and make sure it's consistent everywhere.
Content Writing – Blogs, articles, white papers, case studies—content that informs, educates, and positions you as someone worth listening to.
Email Campaigns – Subject lines that get opened. Body copy that gets clicked. Emails that don't immediately get deleted.
Scripts – Video scripts, radio scripts, podcast scripts—if it's spoken, we've written it.

Our Approach:

We don't write in a vacuum. Every project starts with understanding your audience, your goals, and your brand. Then we write. Then we edit. Then we edit again. (Good writing is rewriting.)

We're also big believers in clarity. Fancy words don't impress anyone if they don't understand what you're trying to say. We write to communicate, not to show off.

Why It Matters:

Because nobody reads anymore. Well, not entirely true—but attention spans are short and competition is fierce. Your copy needs to work hard. It needs to be clear, compelling, and impossible to ignore.

Great copy doesn't just describe what you do—it makes people care. And that's the difference between "meh" and "yes, I'm in."

Design: Art meets architecture.

People who say graphic designers “make things pretty” grind our gears. Design performs multiple jobs. On the most basic level, design serves to attract and guide the eye — through techniques like negative space and hierarchy. Below the surface, design signals the brain. Things like color, type, (a)symmetry, and photo choices evoke the thoughts and beliefs which connect us all as people. Don’t even get us started on the user experience of tactile things like menus, merch, or a gazillion others.

Not to wax poetic, but good graphic design adapts. The rigid “brand standard” guides of old inhibit exploration and innovation. Don’t mess with the logo. Use consistent type. Stick to the primary and secondary colors. End of list. What’s most important, especially in the Scrolling Age, is that each design “feels like you.”

Design is about solving problems, communicating ideas, and making your brand memorable. At H2M Brand Haus, we design everything from logos to packaging, websites to billboards, social graphics to trade show booths. Our work is bold, and very strategic, and built to last—not just follow whatever trend is hot this week.

What We Do:

Brand Identity & Logo Design – Your visual identity is how people recognize you. We create logos, color palettes, typography systems, and brand guidelines that give you a consistent, ownable look.
Print Design – Brochures, posters, direct mail, packaging, annual reports—if it's printed, we design it. And we make sure it actually gets noticed in the mailbox or on the shelf.
Digital Design – Banner ads, social graphics, email templates, web design—design that works across screens and platforms.
Packaging Design – Shelf presence matters. We design packaging that stands out, communicates value, and makes people pick you over the competition.
Environmental & Signage Design – Trade show booths, retail displays, wayfinding, murals—design that lives in physical space.
Illustration & Custom Graphics – Sometimes stock photos won't cut it. We create custom illustrations and graphics that are uniquely yours.

Our Approach:

Design starts with strategy. Before we open Illustrator, we dig into your brand, your audience, and your goals. What are we trying to communicate? What feeling should this evoke? What problem does this solve?

Then we design. We explore multiple directions, push ideas further than expected, and refine until it's right. We're perfectionists, but the practical kind—we know when to stop tweaking and ship the thing.

Why It Matters:

Because people judge books by their covers. And brands by their designs. You have seconds to make an impression, and design is often the first thing people notice.

Good design builds trust, communicates professionalism, and makes your brand memorable. Bad design? That just makes people scroll past.

video: Show and tell. (But keep it concise.)

Video usually wins in every scenario. It’s in demand. It can also be as cheap as you want (both in price and quality). Therein lies the current challenge. How does a business strike a balance between frequency and quality while sticking to a realistic budget?

Unfortunately, no magic formula exists. We combat the issue by creating the most compelling content possible. Weird analogy coming in 3…2… Treat video like a baseball player. Social media is Triple A. If a video performs well, send it up to the minor leagues of paid digital advertising. If the video succeeds in that environment, call it up to the big leagues of broadcast. That way you know you have a winner before shelling out the big bucks.

What We Do:

TV & Streaming Commercials – 30-second spots, 15-second cutdowns, long-form brand films—commercials that run on TV, streaming platforms, and digital channels.
Branded Content & Storytelling – Not everything needs to be an ad. We create branded content that entertains, informs, and builds emotional connections with your audience.
Explainer Videos – Got something complicated to explain? We break it down with clear, engaging explainer videos that make the complex simple.
Social Video – Short, snackable video content optimized for Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, LinkedIn, and wherever else your audience hangs out.
Product & Demo Videos – Show, don't tell. We create product demos that highlight features, benefits, and why someone should buy.
Testimonial & Case Study Videos – Let your customers do the talking. We produce authentic testimonial videos that build trust and credibility.

Our Approach:

Every video starts with a story. What are we trying to say? Who are we saying it to? What do we want them to feel or do?

From concept through post-production, we handle it all—scripting, directing, shooting, editing, color grading, sound design, animation. We're a full-service video team, which means you're not juggling five vendors to get one video made.

We also believe in efficiency. Not every video needs a Hollywood budget. We work within your budget to deliver high-quality video that looks professional and performs.

Why It Matters:

Because video is the most engaging format out there. People retain more, engage more, and convert more when they watch video versus reading text.

But here's the catch: bad video is worse than no video. Shaky footage, poor audio, and boring stories will damage your brand. Good video? That's what makes people stop, watch, and take action.

Social: Three BILLION people use Facebook.

Take China out of the equation, and we’re talking half the planet’s population on one platform. But just because you can create content that unites (or, let’s be honest, divides) friends and family, doesn’t mean you can create content that elevates your brand.

Social media management boils down to four things:

Content creation (text, photos, custom graphics, video, etc.)
Paid media (boosted content or ads)
Analytics and strategy (observe results and adapt)
Platform optimization (there’s more than Meta — like LinkedIn or TikTok)

Oh, and all this is happening in near-real time. It takes a team.

What We Do:

Social Media Strategy – Which platforms matter for your audience? What should you post? How often? We build a strategy that aligns with your goals and actually makes sense.
Content Creation – Graphics, photos, videos, carousel posts, Stories, Reels—we create scroll-stopping content optimized for each platform.
Community Management – Someone needs to respond to comments, DMs, and mentions. We handle the day-to-day engagement so your audience doesn't feel ignored.
Paid Social Advertising – Organic reach is dead (or at least on life support). We run paid campaigns on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, and more to reach your target audience.
Analytics & Reporting – What's working? What's not? We track performance, analyze data, and adjust strategy based on real results—not vanity metrics.
Influencer Partnerships – Sometimes the best way to reach your audience is through someone they already trust. We identify, vet, and manage influencer partnerships.

Our Approach:

Social media isn't one-size-fits-all. What works on LinkedIn won't work on TikTok. What works for B2B won't work for DTC. We tailor our approach to your brand, your audience, and your goals.

We also believe in authenticity. People can smell a corporate social media account from a mile away. We help you sound like a human, not a press release.

Why It Matters:

Because your audience is on social media. All day. If you're not there, or if you're posting garbage, you're invisible.

Social media is where brands build relationships, drive traffic, generate leads, and yes, even make sales. But it only works if you're consistent, strategic, and actually engaging.

paid media: A.k.a. the en vogue term for advertising.

We apologize on behalf of our industry. Terms change but the meaning remains the same. Paid media means buying time or space to attract eyeballs, earholes, or both. In other words, ads. Paid media falls into two, possibly three categories: traditional, digital, and social.

Think of traditional media as the stuff you viewed before the Internet. It includes TV, radio, billboards, print, collateral (e.g., brochures), or any other old-school format.

Social media refers to buying audiences on social media platforms. It could range from a boosted post to paying an influencer to talk about your product. (Admittedly, that could fall into PR, but we’ll keep it simple.)

Digital media pertains to, well, everything else. Banner ads, SEM (like Google AdWords), streaming audio, or even native content falls under this category.

Here’s the 101 version of digital media. We see too many clients politely nodding because they’ve never had the nuts and bolts explained.

In digital, we buy audiences, which is significantly more advanced than demographics. Instead of say, targeting women 25-34 in the Fargo-Moorhead region, digital allows us to find women interested in X who live in the 58104 zip code. (And that’s like the bare minimum. Digital gets bonkers fast.)

How can we buy “behaviors” and “interests?” Enter Demand Side Platforms (DSPs). DSPs use a tin-foil-hat inducing amount of data to identify people’s interests. Websites serve up ads if the user meets pre-set criteria. This is why the ads you see on a page might be completely different than someone else - even in your household.

H2M uses two different DSPs to get the most out of Google’s Display Network as well as 60 other major networks. Once placed, we monitor performance and optimize after the algorithms do their thing.

What We Do:

Digital Advertising – Google Ads (search, display, video), programmatic display, native ads, streaming audio—if it's digital, we buy it.
Social Media Advertising – Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, Pinterest—we run targeted campaigns that reach your audience based on behaviors, interests, and demographics.
Traditional Media Buying – TV, radio, print, outdoor (billboards)—sometimes the old-school stuff still works. We plan and buy traditional media that reaches your local or regional audience.
Programmatic Advertising – We use Demand Side Platforms (DSPs) to buy audiences, not just demographics. Instead of "women 25-34," we target "women interested in sustainable fashion who live within 10 miles of your store." Digital gets bonkers fast.
Video Advertising – Pre-roll ads on YouTube, streaming platforms, and connected TV. Video ads that get seen and remembered.
Retargeting & Remarketing – Someone visited your site but didn't convert? We follow them around the internet (in a non-creepy way) until they come back.

Our Approach:

Paid media isn't "set it and forget it." We continuously monitor performance, optimize campaigns, and adjust based on what's working. Algorithms do their thing, but we make sure they're doing it in your favor.

We also believe in transparency. You'll know where your money is going, what results you're getting, and why we're making the recommendations we make. No black box, no hidden fees.

Why It Matters:

Because organic reach is limited. SEO takes time. Paid media gets you in front of your audience now.

But here's the thing: paid media only works if you're targeting the right people, with the right message, at the right time. Waste money on the wrong audience and you'll burn through budget fast. Do it right, and paid media becomes your best ROI driver.

Research: Marketing Insights.

You know what your audience wants, right? You have a gut feeling. You've heard things. Someone in a meeting once said something that sounded true.

Cool. But what if you're wrong?
We often quote a wonderful Stephen Colbert statement, “Why do research when I can just say things?”

At H2M Brand Haus, we don't guess. We research. We dig into your market, your audience, and your competition to uncover insights that actually inform strategy. Because making decisions based on data is better than making them based on hunches.

What We Do:

Audience Research – Who is your audience? What do they care about? Where do they hang out? What motivates them? We answer these questions with surveys, focus groups, and data analysis.
Market Research – What's happening in your industry? What trends are emerging? What opportunities are being missed? We analyze market conditions so you can make informed decisions.
Competitive Research – What are your competitors doing? What's working for them? Where are the gaps? We study the competition so you can differentiate.
Brand Perception Studies – How do people perceive your brand? Are you seen the way you want to be seen? We measure brand awareness, sentiment, and perception.
Customer Surveys & Feedback – Want to know what your customers actually think? We design and deploy surveys that get real, actionable feedback.
Usability Testing – Is your website confusing? Is your app frustrating? We test with real users to identify pain points and opportunities for improvement.

Our Approach:

Research isn't about drowning you in data. It's about finding the insights that matter and presenting them in a way that's actually useful.

We use a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods—surveys, interviews, focus groups, data analysis, usability testing—to get a complete picture. Then we distill it down to the key takeaways that inform your strategy.

Why It Matters:

Because assumptions are expensive. If you build a campaign around the wrong message, launch a product your audience doesn't want, or target the wrong demographic, you've wasted time and money.

Research removes the guesswork. It gives you confidence that you're making decisions based on reality, not gut feelings or groupthink.

measurement & reporting: Strategize and track what’s important.

If you’ve read this entire section, you might recall how we regard strategy as intent. It’s the same when it comes to measurement and reporting. Throwing a wall of data generally results in infinite questions and zero answers.

We track and test ads based on metrics determined ahead of time. What matters most? Clicks, engagement (e.g., likes or shares), website traffic, or anything else that’s relevant. Those are the figures we pay attention to first and foremost when we present quarterly or bi-quarterly reports.

We also ask a more important question: “Is your engine working?” At its core, we want to know how business is doing. It borders on arrogance to assume one post or one ad is the reason for a sale. Despite what others may tell you, 100% accurate attribution isn’t possible. Data tells you what; it doesn’t tell you why.

Until our AI overlords figure it out, look for positive correlation between a marketing presence and improved business results.

What We Do:

Campaign Performance Tracking – We set up tracking for every campaign—website traffic, conversions, engagement, ROI. You'll know exactly what's driving results.
Google Analytics Setup & Reporting – We configure Google Analytics (GA4) to track the metrics that matter, then translate the data into insights you can actually use.
Dashboards & Custom Reports – We build dashboards that give you real-time visibility into your marketing performance. No more waiting for monthly reports.
Attribution Modeling – Which touchpoints are driving conversions? We use attribution modeling to understand the customer journey and give credit where it's due.
A/B Testing & Optimization – We test headlines, images, CTAs, landing pages—everything. Then we use the data to optimize for better performance.
ROI Analysis – What's your return on investment? We calculate ROI across channels so you can allocate budget where it's most effective.

Our Approach:

We don't report on vanity metrics. "Impressions" and "reach" are nice, but they don't pay the bills. We focus on the metrics that tie back to your business goals—leads, sales, revenue, ROI.

We also believe in clarity. Data is overwhelming, so we distill it down to the key takeaways and actionable recommendations. You'll know what happened, why it happened, and what to do next.

Why It Matters:

Because if you're not measuring, you're flying blind. You don't know what's working, what's wasting money, or how to improve.

Measurement turns marketing from a cost center into a profit driver. It gives you the insights to optimize, the confidence to scale, and the proof that your investment is paying off.

analytics & insights: Data is daunting and meaningless on its own.

People feed into the narrative that human beings operate rationally. We don’t. “But numbers don’t lie.” Oh, they can and do once in human hands. That’s not to suggest data doesn’t provide value. It absolutely does. Without intent, information lacks context. What were we trying to accomplish? Did we? Okay, let’s do more of that. We’re below expectations? Why? Let’s try something else.

Looking at data as a puzzle rather than absolute truth spurs curiosity, which leads to learning, which activates change, which ultimately leads to better outcomes over time.

Frankly, it keeps us humble. Data creates motive to kill our darlings when necessary or spare ideas others would subjectively sentence to the gallows.

What We Do:

Data Analysis – We dig into your marketing data to identify trends, patterns, and opportunities. What's driving results? What's holding you back?
Customer Journey Mapping – How do people find you? What steps do they take before converting? We map the customer journey to identify friction points and optimization opportunities.
Audience Segmentation – Not all customers are the same. We segment your audience based on behavior, demographics, and psychographics so you can target more effectively.
Performance Audits – Website not converting? Ads underperforming? We audit your marketing to identify what's broken and how to fix it.
Predictive Analytics – What's likely to happen next? We use historical data to forecast trends and inform future strategy.
Competitive Benchmarking – How do you stack up against the competition? We analyze your performance relative to industry standards and competitors.

Our Approach:

Analytics isn't about charts and graphs. It's about finding the story in the data and translating it into actionable recommendations.

We use a combination of tools—Google Analytics, social analytics, CRM data, ad platforms—to get a complete picture of your marketing performance. Then we connect the dots and tell you what it means for your business.

Why It Matters:

Because intuition only gets you so far. Data-driven decisions outperform gut feelings every time.

Analytics helps you understand what's working, double down on what's effective, and cut what's wasting money. It's the difference between hoping your marketing works and knowing it does.